"Do you plan on standing there forever?!".
As it would seem I have spent close to eternity conversing with the voice. In reality, however, it had taken me no less than a minute to have that conversation.
Apparently, though, less than a minute seemed too long a time for grumpy mister goblin over there.
Must be itching for that fight with me?! Fine, I will grant him his wish added with a bonus beating.
Before that?...
'Voice. Is there any available technique on my light and dark attribute I can learn right at this moment to turn things around?!'
There Are. As For The Learning Phase, I Can Bypass That Through Overloading Your Brain With The Technique's Information
'Overload?! That is going to hurt, isn't it?!'.
Not A Lot, But You Will Feel A Slight Discomfort
'Fine. Get on with it! Anything to help me win!'.
The information overload came as I changed my stance with the katana tip facing Laden.
As it warned, it did not hurt. Just a slight tolerable discomfort here and there.
"This should work!".
I exclaimed, sizing up the information I got as I opened up my force storage, allowing the free flow of my force to the necessary parts of my body.
In time, my force had completely dispersed to where necessary and my eyes had gotten clearer, taking the form of a swirling black and white separated by their distinct colour.
To the appearance of my eyes, Laden instinctively took two steps back with caution. On the sideline where the master goblin stood, I caught a view of how he took a step back and had his mouth slightly agape.
Regaining his composure, Laden too opened up his force storage to attain the enhancement to fight me.
I wielded my katana and with resolve? I charged!!!
Laden reciprocated with a dash toward me.
Clang! Our swords clashed when we met at the centre. He followed up with a withdrawal of his sword and then a downward sideway slash.
Picking up his move with my eyes, I hurriedly shifted my sword's trajectory to my side so I could tank his sword.
However! I was left waiting when his sword had an abrupt change of path. Done with a skilful circled roll of the sword's handle, Laden turned his back at me, covering the path of the sword, he had it pass by his side to point at me.
Unexpectedly, I could only rely on my instinct to displace my katana how I saw fit.
Only slightly did I parry his sword before it reached my stomach.
Unfazed by my successful counter, Laden still faced opposite me, stretched his left leg backwards to kick my stomach and had me losing my stance to take three steps back.
Once more, he skillfully turned to and ran up to me. Halfway down, he jumped and sent his sword flying my way from above.
Taking a one-knee stance, I forwarded my katana's path above my head and managed to stop Laden's sword.
Maintaining composure, he drew the sword down on my katana forcefully. I held my own with my strength and instead of having his sword pass through my katana, it ended up sliding out of the clash.
Things were yet to get hectic seeing as how Laden looks like he still has a lot of fight left in him.
He clutched the sword to make an assaulting charge at me, with heavy sword strikes delivered with skills and insane accuracy to places that would take me off-guard.
Barely did I follow along with his strikes with one or two slashes escaping my counter and delivering minor wounds on my bare skin.
During the heated moment, Laden saw an opportunity and aimed perfectly to utilize it.
It happened while I was occupied with keeping up with the strikes. Five came in at once to throw me into a state of confusion and instinctual reliance on getting out.
As soon as I somehow managed to survive the five strikes, unknowingly to me, Laden slipped in his right leg from my blindspot to get a hit in on my neck.
The hit came? My neck was crooked to the side with a heavy strain, leaving behind an after-hit force that had me tumbling and rolling on the ground.
As I rolled down the coarse earth, I slipped my katana to the front, buried the tip on the ground and halted my action.
Barely have I recovered with one knee on the ground and my katana to the ground along with one hand holding the handle. Trying to recuperate, a shadow was cast above me, turning my line of sight dim.
With a withdrawal of my katana, I rolled out of the way and a second after, Laden landed with a heavy thud of his sword on the ground.
Inches away from him, I reached out my sword to the side and was easily blocked off by him.
And thus a stalemate was recorded? Of me with my right knee on the ground, my left knee halved and facing ahead, my left arm holding my sword pointed at the side where Laden? Bent on the ground, had his sword in a collision with mine!